美国遭受大规模冬季风暴袭击

美国遭受大规模冬季风暴袭击

 Ice, snow and hail are blanketing the midwestern United States, as part of a massive winter storm expected to be one of the biggest in recent years.

冰、雪和冰雹席卷美国中西部。预计这次大规模的冬季风暴是最近几年来最大的一次。

The National Weather Service issued warnings urging people to stay inside, calling travel "impossible" and conditions "life threatening."

美国国家气象局发布警告，敦促人们呆在室内，说旅行是“不可能的”, 而且天气状况会“危及生命”。

The cities of Milwaukee, St. Louis and Chicago are bracing¹ for the biggest impact, with more than 46 centimeters of snow and wind gusts² of up to 64 kilometers per hour expected over the next day.

米尔沃基、圣路易斯和芝加哥正在为这场风暴带来的最大影响做准备。预计明天的降雪量将超过46厘米和大风达到时速64公里。

Forecasters have issued blizzard³, winter storm and freezing rain warnings for more than half the country from the southwestern state of Texas through the midwestern state of Illinois and into the northeastern state of Maine.

气象人员对从西南部的德克萨斯到中西部的伊利诺伊再到东北部的缅因州美国一半以上的地区发布了暴风雪、冬季风暴以及冻雨的警告。

Airlines are already delaying and canceling flights in the region, and allowing customers to change their itinerary⁴ without the usual fee.

航空公司推迟或取消了这些地区的航班，并且允许顾客不需缴通常收取的手续费而改变他们的行程。

The weather conditions even forced President Barack Obama to reschedule a trip planned for Wednesday to a university in Pennsylvania. He instead travels on Thursday. 

天气状况甚至迫使奥巴马总统改变星期三前往宾夕法尼亚州一所大学的旅行计划。他的行程改在星期四。

1 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

2 gusts   

一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作

参考例句：

• Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
• Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。

3 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

4 itinerary   

n.行程表，旅行路线；旅行计划

参考例句：

• The two sides have agreed on the itinerary of the visit.双方商定了访问日程。
• The next place on our itinerary was Silistra.我们行程的下一站是锡利斯特拉。